The French Business Council warmly thanks each contributors
of the FBC Insights Magazine, special edition on
Diversity & Inclusion.
Enjoy the reading !

2 I FBC Insights

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The French Business Council Dubai and Northern Emirates would like to thank
its Patron Members for their continuous support.
FBC Insights Magazine is published by the
French Business Council Dubai and
Northern Emirates. The views and opinions
expressed in its columns do not necessarily
reflect those of the Chamberâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Members
and Management.
This edition accepts no responsibility for
unsolicited material.
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accuracy of the information within his
publication. However, FBC cannot accept
legal responsibility for any erroneous
content or omissions.
Copyright: French Business Council 2018 â&#x20AC;&#x201C;
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FBC Insight
Chief Editor
Agnes Lopez Cruz
Project Manager
Sevim Guvenc
Communication Manager
Claire-Anne Russelle
FBC Contributors
Justine Dampt, Audrey Teppe, Julia Carre
Issue 1
1500 Copies
Cover page picture & Content pictures by
pixabay.com

Dear Readers,
We are particularly proud to present the first issue of our FBC Insights, the one and only magazine of the French Business Council
Dubai & Northern Emirates!
The mission of this bi-annual publication is to highlight the news, activities and know-how of our members, as well as our past and
upcoming initiatives. But that is not all.
Our ambition is also to provide our local business community with a new forum for knowledge and information exchange, facilitating
discussion around the main challenges that companies based in the UAE have, or will have, to face.
Back to the current issue of FBC Insights. We decided to tackle a topic that was important on a societal level, but also on a business
level. In this issue we say: “Diversity and inclusion means business!”
The term diversity and inclusion has a particular resonance in the UAE, where people of more than 200 nationalities co-exist
peacefully. This year is also known as the Year of Zayed, a great occasion to celebrate the vision of tolerance of the founding father,
Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, and the principles of openness that have become part of the Emirati identity.
It is high time in France too: President Emmanuel Macron has chosen the fight for gender equality as the “grande cause nationale” of
his presidency.
Even if diversity policies tend to address visible diversities (genders, cultures, generations, and handicaps), what is more difficult
sometimes is tackling barriers to invisible diversities (educational background, social standing, and mental health conditions to name
a few).
Indeed, diversity is nuanced, and in practice true diversity is hard to achieve!
Through various articles and interviews, the moral, as well as the business, case for diversity and inclusion is set out. A number of
companies and institutions tell their stories and underline how important diversity and inclusion are for productive, innovative and
successful workplaces, not just in terms of creativity but also financial returns.
We hope you will find this first issue of FBC Insights an interesting and thought-provoking read!

Bruno De Reneville
President
French Business Council
Dubai & Northern Emirates

Foreword

Dr. Raja Al Gurg
Managing Director of the Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group
President of the Dubai Business Women’s Council

PARTNERS IN PROGRESS

FOREWORD

According to the World Economic Forum’s 2017 Global Gender Gap report, the UAE is a regional leader for gender equality. As cited
at the UAE's first Women's Economic Empowerment Global Summit last year, almost 70 per cent of students in UAE universities are
girls; 46.6 per cent of the labour market is made up of women; 66 per cent of all government employees are women; more than 30
per cent of managerial positions across various industries are held by women, and 15 per cent of top-level positions in the private
sector are held by women.
This notable inclusion of women as productive members of the socio-economic work-force fabric in the UAE is indicative of the
importance our country’s visionary leaders place on gender balance and guaranteeing equal rights in the workplace and at home.
As France stands firm behind its commitment to strategic cooperation with the UAE, we must continue providing tailored
opportunities for growth and career development in new public and private sector ventures in both our nations. These opportunities
are vital if the vast talent pool of professional women across both our nations, are to play increasingly stronger roles in business, the
military and government.
Gender balance and equality remain important contributors to workplace diversity and inclusivity, recognised for driving increasing
productivity and performances levels, as well as fostering heightened creativity and innovation.
In order to deepen the collective France-UAE mission for strategic cooperation, we, as partners, must continue to forge innovation,
mobility and sustainability in our populaces. These elements were highlighted during the recent UAE-France business forum in Dubai
organised by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry in cooperation with the French Embassy in the UAE, Business France,
and the FBC. It is now up to all of us to pick up the mantle and ensure that these strategic goals come to fruition for the benefit of
both nations.
The UAE’s position as France’s first trade partner in the Middle East and second-largest trading partner in the Gulf region, coupled
with France’s standing as the fourth-largest foreign investor in the UAE, serve to highlight the strong trade and investment ties
between our two countries, as well as our shared commitment to further enhancing strategic social, economic and political
cooperation.
In this regard, the French Business Council of Dubai & the Northern Emirates (FBC) and Dubai Business Women Council’s (DBWC)
are partners in progress. Indeed, our landmark trade mission agenda to France in 2015 represented a significant step towards
promoting mutually beneficial business opportunities and exploring bilateral synergies between Dubai, the greater UAE, and France.
Powered by a high-profile and influential delegation of Emirati and French business women, the 2015 trade mission offered a
dedicated platform to explore mutual opportunities beyond trade for the betterment of both countries. If we consider the recent
inauguration of the Louvre Abu Dhabi and the high-ranking public and private sector accords forged through an arts-led
socio-economic partnership,the close cultural ties between France and the UAE are evident.
With 30,000 French nationals currently living in the Emirates, 60,000 school children learning French in the UAE, and France ranking
as the fourth most popular country for students from the Emirates looking to study overseas according to the Embassy of France in
Abu Dhabi, our nations not only share fruitful trade relations, we boast significant cultural and educational ties.
When leading the first FBC-DBWC trade mission to France on behalf of the UAE’s female business leaders, the spotlight was rightly
shone on the positive impacts of influential female leadership, specifically in the context of the under-representation of women in
business, a much-discussed narrative in the gender balance discourse. The high visibility of this trade mission was, therefore, an
invaluable vehicle for encouraging women to thrive, free from the gender bias that exists in the wider business community and society
at large.
dbwc.ae

FBC Insights I 5

Member Highlights

BLOSSOM BY BABILOU EDUCATION CONTINUES ITS
RAPID GROWTH ACROSS THE U.A.E
Inspire Nursery under ESOL Education has moved locations to The Blossom Village
Nursery, offering more than 45 inspire parents top tier child care.
Babilou Group, Europe’s leading Childcare provider, was founded in France by the Carle
Family. The pioneering of this company started in 2003 with two brothers, Edouard and
Rodolphe Carle. Today the Group consists of a network of 1,500+ nurseries across
Europe. Babilou welcomes more than 25,000 children each week and supports more than
1,200 clients of all sizes with more than 6,000 professionals dedicated to the highest
quality educational standard, worldwide. “We are very excited to be part of this,
inspirational and groundbreaking movement” said Bassam Abu Shakra, Regional Director
of ESOL Education.

BODYO HAS BEEN SELECTED
BY DUBAI FUTURE FOUNDATION
to participate in Cohort 4 of the Dubai Future Accelerator program which was inaugurated on Thursday 22nd March. Bodyo was one
of 4 companies chosen by the Department of Health (DHA) out of 677 companies that applied this year.
Dubai Future Accelerators was launched in 2016 by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown
Prince of Dubai and the Chairman of Dubai Future Foundation under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al
Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai. Dubai Future Accelerators is an intensive 9-week program pairing the world’s most exciting technology
companies with leading government organizations to create transformational solutions.
For people who want to better take care of themselves, Bodyo constantly empower people & communities for a healthier and happier
tomorrow. With free and easy access to monitor health vitals through our non-invasive AI Health Stations (the AiPod), and intuitive
tailored app training programs, helping prevent chronic health conditions and achieve personal fitness goals.
Founded by Patrice Coutard in 2018, Bodyo will be launching several new products, that have the ability to display and monitor all the
necessary factors to keep track of not just individuals, but communities and entire populations health, by using their three channels,
which form the Bodyo ecosystem:
1. The Health Kiosk (AiPod) – 2018
2. The Bodyo Private cloud with IOS and Android Apps - 2018
3. Home Health Monitoring (connected devices) - 2018
For more information please visit www.bodyo.com or contact: Tariq Hussain (CEO) tariq@bodyo.com

SWITCH MADE,
IS DRIVING SUSTAINABILITY IN THE EDUCATION SECTOR
Switch Made is driving sustainability in the education sector, having provided the eco-friendly campus
of Swiss International Scientific School (SISD) in Dubai with energy-efficient LED lighting solutions.
The use of these lighting solutions underlines SISD’s credentials as the first low-energy building in
the Middle East, said a statement.
This marks a true international collaboration between SISD in Dubai, which brings Swiss excellence in
education, and Switch Made, a French company, to redefine the education sector by pioneering a new
eco-friendly school campus that benefits student well-being.

6 I FBC Insights

Member Highlights

TOTAL CONSOLIDATES ITS STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP WITH
ADNOC
Total has signed two new 40-year concession agreements with the Supreme Petroleum Council of the
Emirate of Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC).
In the frame of these agreements, Total is granted a 20% participating interest in the new Umm Shaif
& Nasr concession and 5% in the Lower Zakum concession, effective March 9th, 2018, for a total
participation fee of 1.45 billion dollars, which represents an access cost of around 1 dollar per barrel of
reserves. These interests bring to Total a production of 80,000 barrels of oil per day in 2018.

BIL HAS BEEN NAMED
BANK OF THE YEAR 2017
Banque Internationale a Luxemourg (BIL) was presented with the Bank of the Year 2017 – Luxembourg award at a ceremony held by financial
magazine The Banker. This marks the second year in a row that the bank is being honored with this prestigious award.
“The Bank of the Year 2016 award recognized the initial success of our BIL 2020 strategy. The fact that we have received this accolade from renowned
magazine The Banker for the second year running once again demonstrates our ability to innovate and offer products and services tailored to our
clients.” Commented Hugues Delcourt, CEO of Banque Internationale a Luxembourg.
Brian Caplen, editor in chief of The Banker said : “This year, the panel of judges highlighted the excellent progress made by the Banque Internationale
a Luxembourg with regard to its innovative client offerings and digital solutions, as well as the bank’s impressive results.”
Each year, The Banker, leading magazine for the world of finance published by the Financial Times, honors the best financial institutions at its Bank
of the Year Awards ceremony. Composed of 120 financial sector professionals, the jury bases its decision on the institutions’ performance and primary
achievements over the past 12 months.
About Banque Internationale a Luxembourg (BIL):
Founded in 1856, Banque Internationale a Luxembourg (BIL) is the oldest multi-business bank in Grand Duchy. It has always played an active role in
the main stages of the development of the Luxembourg economy. It currently operates in retail, private and corporate banking as well as on capital
markets. Employing more than 2,000 people, BIL is present in the financial centres of Luxembourg, Switzerland (since 1984), Denmark (since 2000)
and Dubai DIFC (since 2005).
www.bil.com

LUMEN AT WORK WINS INTERNATIONAL
TALENT TROPHY

YOUR SOCIAL PROUD TO BECOME PART
OF MERKLE

Francois Jarrossay, director of the company LUMEN AT WORK
received in Paris on February 7th, the International Talents
Trophy!
Francois Jarrossay, already winner of the Grand Prix VIE in Hong
Kong, has been awarded for his entrepreneurial strength and the
innovative capacity of his company LUMEN AT WORK.
Most exciting project, LUMEN AT WORK signed in September
2017 with DEWA, INNOGY and the French SME RAGNI, a
M.O.U. for the manufacture in France of the future Smart Pole of
Dubai.
The product, called MANARATI, will ship on demand surveillance
cameras, pollution sensors, a charger for electric vehicles, an
emergency button to report an incident, and even offer wifi to
passersby. Such a network deployed at the scale of a city will
allow a supervision of agglomeration 3.0!
This smart street lighting is an innovation that will help Dubai to
position itself as one of the most technologically advanced
Smart City.

Your Social is super proud to announce that our Dubai agency
and all agencies of the Oxyma group are joining Merkle (part of
Dentsu Aegis Network).
Rudy Banholzer, Managing Director of Your Social ME: ” Your
Social was founded in The Netherlands in 2010 as a strategy
and creative social media agency. A year later, we started our
office in Dubai. Since then we have helped client like L'Oreal,
Lexus, Daman, Bateel or Air France-KLM with their social
strategies and campaigns.
Now that we are part of Merkle, we can bring their world-class
experience in performance marketing, search and programmatics
to support further our clients with regards to their goals in
digital and marketing. We really are looking forward to this new
chapter in our journey.”

he business case for diversity is clear. Diversity can boost innovation and
employee engagement, and companies with greater gender and racial diversity
financially outperform their peers. Yet progress within organizations has been
slow – there is still a lack of women and minorities in leadership positions, and
certain industries like tech and finance are lacking diversity at all levels. And
many diversity programmes fail.
When Mikael Ohlsson of the Swedish home-products company IKEA was asked
why advancing diversity in the workplace was important, he said: “My leadership
on diversity is vision-driven from a business point of view and value-driven at
the foundation.”
With all the press we read about diversity, inclusion, women in leadership,
innovation and the need to be open minded about religious and cultural
differences, one might ask: "Why is diversity and inclusion still a challenge for
so many organisations, despite all the deployed efforts?”

Jean-Michel Monnot
Senior Associate Pluribus
Founder & President All Inclusive
Member of The High Council for
Gender Equality’s (HCE)
at French Republic

To be able to answer this question, we may need to first define what diversity
and inclusion actually is. Using a tree makes it simpler to understand:

"all the characteristics, visible or invisible, which can be differences or similarities, and which
make each of us unique.”

So diversity can be defined by

10 I FBC Insights

D&I I an overview

Among visible facets, we can for example identify gender, skin color, physical appearance or some form of disability. But we also define ourselves by
many invisible facets: Our culture, belief system, values, personal experiences, and thinking styles. Each of us is in fact a unique combination of all these
facets, and this is the interest of diversity for a company: Looking for different talents, rather than cloning the ways of thinking.
In 2017, Aon Hewitt published a list of the top 10 risks for companies: At least half of these risks are closely related to diversity, such as damage to
reputation, inability to innovate, growing competition, civil liability, and a war of talent.

If diversity is about celebrating uniqueness, how can we bring all the facets of diversity forward in service of the
individual’s, and organisation’s, growth?
The consultancy Bersin by Deloitte in 2015 published their High-Impact Talent Management research, producing some amazing results: From the 128
different strategies they studied, the talent practices which predict the highest performing companies are all focused on building an inclusive talent
system.
According to Boris Groysberg and Katherine Connelly in their article ‘Great leaders who make the mix,’ published in the Harvard Business Review in
2013, a commitment to inclusion often arises from the individual’s own understanding of what it means to be an outsider, or excluded.
Carlos Ghosn of Nissan Renault Motor Company talks about how bias has affected his own family. “My mother was one of eight children” he said. “She
used to be a very brilliant student, and when the time came to go to college, she wanted to become a doctor. Unfortunately, her mother had to explain
to her that there was not enough money in the family, and that the money for college was going to the boys and the girls would instead have to marry.”
When I was a kid, he continued, and “my mother was telling me this story—without any bitterness, by the way, just matter-of-fact—I was outraged
because it was my mother.” “After hearing that story, I said I would never do anything to hurt someone based on segregation,” he added.

To Ghosn, gender bias is a personal affront. “When I see that women do not have the same opportunities as men, it
touches me in a personal way,”he said. “I think it’s some kind of refusal related to my sisters or to my daughters.”
Inclusion is an individual choice, and as organisations we need to create the conditions for individuals to support the development of an inclusive
culture by:

1

Leveraging on the power of personal
stories to activate change

2

Designing experiences that evoke
individual's emotions rather than
program

3

Designing learning journeys to support culture
shift to inclusion, rather than fragmented training
courses that don't support individuals needs

The next level of diversity and inclusion means removing it from its silo and fundamentally baking it into the way we hire, what we value culturally,
how decisions are made, and how we evaluate our leaders. We will get there when we all embrace diversity and inclusion as our responsibility.

Further resources
McKinsey's research shows that gender-diverse companies are 15% more likely to outperform their peers
and ethnically-diverse companies are 35% more likely to do the same.
Catalyst research shows that companies with more women on the board statistically outperform their
peers over a long period of time.
Deloitte Australia research shows that inclusive teams outperform their peers by 80% in team-based
assessments.

FBC Insights I 11

D&I I an overview

The United Arab Emirates: a country of reference
in terms of diversity & inclusion
by Ed Clowes

W

ith a population overwhelmingly made up of immigrants (88% of UAE population) according to a recent United Nations (UN) report, the UAE
is surely one of the most culturally diverse places on Earth.
Some companies have over 50 nationalities working side by side under the same roof, while the country boasts CEOs from India, France, Pakistan, the
UK, China and Brazil.
In Dubai, residents find Filipino restaurants next to Yemeni ones; tourists visit the souks, or markets, to buy gold from Indians and Bangladeshis.
This kind of cultural and ethnic diversity is only possible in
a country with over 200 different nationalities.
Dubai’s government says that the city-state is unique in
the diversity and cohesiveness of its society, which it says
is forged on “tolerance, respect, forgiveness and
communication.”
These traits, it says, have resulted in the “creation of an
exemplary multicultural society.”
As part of its national transformation strategy, known as
the Dubai Plan 2021, the government has said that it

will continue to prioritise diversity, acknowledging
its contribution to the economy.
Multiculturalism, it says, enriches the city, and “drives its
development by harnessing the talents and creativity of its
global and diverse population.”
The national plan also addresses the importance of social
inclusion for all vulnerable groups within Dubai’s society.

People with determination
Long regarded as a shining example of progression and
modernity in the Middle East, the UAE excels in all forms
diversity: last year, the country introduced a national policy
for the empowerment of those with disabilities.
In April 2017, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid
Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the
UAE and Ruler of Dubai, said that people with disabilities
should be called "people of determination" from then on.
Sheikh Mohammed also announced the establishment of
an advisory board for people with disabilities.
Dubai aims by 2020 to become fully accessible to the
differently-abled.
These changes triggered a vigorous push by both the
private and public sector to care for people with
determination.
The drive for such diversity and inclusion is evident in the
results: The UAE will become the first Arab country to
host the Special Olympics, set to take place in 2019, whilst
in Abu Dhabi, a market has been established to help
people of determination promote and sell their products,
and integrate them into society.

12 I FBC Insights

Understand better disabilities

85 %

of disabilities
are acquired

70 %

of people with
disabilities have non
apparent disabilities
Source: United States Department of Labor, 2014

Recognize the types of disabilities
MOTOR Any disability that
restricts physical activity.

CHRONIC Any disability resulting
from a chronic illness and that
affects one’s everyday activities.

D&I I an overview

Religious diversity is also championed in the UAE. The country has as
many as 37 churches, in addition to a number of Sikh temples, Hindu
temples, and Buddhist temples, that sit alongside the UAE’s many
mosques.

In a 2011 survey of 325 large global companies with at $500 million in
annual revenue, Forbes found that 85 per cent agreed or strongly
agreed that diversity was crucial to fostering innovation in the
workplace.

Many of these places of worship are funded and supported by the
UAE’s leaders: The Gurunanak Darbar temple in Jebel Ali was built in
2012 on land donated by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed.

With the business case for diversity more obvious than ever,
consultancy BCG recommended in a 2017 study that while “cultural
bias and labour regulations can be major obstacles” they should not
stop companies’ diversity ambitions and strategies.

This kind of inclusion was enshrined in 2016, when the government of
the UAE created a Minister of State for Tolerance, a post now occupied
by His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, a member of
the Abu Dhabi royal family.
Tolerance is a virtue and an intrinsic part of the Islamic culture.
In the UAE, diversity is observed and respected at all levels: individual,
organisational and national. With more than 200 nationalities living
peacefully and successfully in the UAE, the country has emerged as a
leading example of a tolerant, diverse, and inclusive society.

“Organizations that have succeeded best in overcoming this bias are
those in which the CEO sets specific targets or quotas for female
employees and for representation in senior leadership positions,” the
report said, adding that “adopting quotas can be a winning strategy in
the short term – a way to jump the cultural bias barrier by forcing the
trend.”

Breaking News As the FBC Insights is being published (April 2018), the UAE government
has announced the draft of an equal pay law, making the UAE, the second country in the
world, having an equal pay law.

Utilising her experience as a woman in industry, Hanan Darwish is redefining
how women can attain success in the corporate world.

by Ed Clowes

H

anan Darwish does not like buzzwords or clichés. Rather, she
chooses to speak from the heart, especially when it concerns things she
is passionate about, like women’s empowerment.

“I will not give you the big words about diversity that
might be overused in the business world,”

says Darwish, President of Schneider Electric for the Gulf and Pakistan.
“Instead I will give you my experiences, thoughts, and beliefs.”

In a recent interview at Schneider Electric’s offices in Dubai, Darwish
said she preferred to speak from the heart about the topics of gender
balance, workforce diversity, and inclusion that she is passionate.
“At the end of the day, when it comes to diversity and inclusion, we need
to talk about the topic with the right mix of brains, hearts, and guts,”
she said.
For Darwish, a French-Egyptian who became the first ever woman to
lead Schneider Electric’s business in the region in January 2017, it was
a strong sign of the company’s corporate responsibility, and signifying
that diversity and inclusion is part of the company’s DNA.
She says that throughout her 20 plus years as a business woman, she
has been challenged by being an Arabic origin woman working across
the globe and adapting to different cultures.
Responding to a question about how being a woman of mixed ethnicity
had impacted her experience of the corporate world, Darwish had a
piece of advice for young girls: Embrace it, be yourself, and it’s all about
how competent you are in the end.

14 I FBC Insights

These phrases were uttered multiple times throughout the course of
the wide-ranging interview.
There were occasions, Darwish emphasized that a woman should
always be judged by her contribution and value to the company, rather
than by superficial judgments and first impressions. As a woman in a
different cultural environment, this does require adaptation, she added,
but this should not change a person’s identity, you still need to be
authentic and real.
“It can be difficult because people are not alike,” Darwish said. “Whilst
some people would accept you for who you are, others would really
expect you to change, to be like this, or to be like that.”
Darwish is clear, however, on one thing: She never compromised, or
contradicted, her values.
On International Women’s Day in 2017, Schneider Electric reaffirmed
its commitment to diversity, highlighting initiatives it had undertaken
in recent years, including adherence to the Women's Empowerment
Principles, involvement in the United Nations HeForShe movement,
and the creation of a women advisory board.
Another one of Schneider Electric’s key goals is to include women at
every level of the company.
In order to achieve this, the company has increased its Schneider
Electric Foundation investments to prioritize science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, and to continue to
attract more women to STEM fields.
Darwish has personal experience in this field, and says that it has been
more positive than she expected.

Seniors Leaders Exclusive Interview

“Being a woman in an engineering company…for me
was a big challenge. Surprisingly, what I found out at
this company was that they were really pushing,
really believing [in diversity],” she said.
“It was a challenge, but a positive surprise,” Darwish added.
In the Gulf region and Pakistan, Schneider Electric has been continually
improving, setting strict short-term targets to improve women
representation from 18 per cent in 2017, to 35 per cent by 2019, while
also achieving 50 per cent female recruitment in 2018.

“There is a need for diversity, not just nationalities. It’s good to
put different brains together as it brings a lot to the table,” she
said.

“Companies need to get out of their comfort zone,
they need to force diversity. That’s what I’m doing
here. Get me more nationalities…get me young
people. Don’t only get me the experienced ones.”
This would bring a certain dynamic to the company, Darwish added.
Schneider Electric currently employs people of around 50 different
nationalities in the Gulf and Pakistan.
According to the top executive, role models and mentors in a corporate
environment are hugely important to attracting women to a company,
and retaining them too.
On this topic, the company president is reminded of a time when she
met an actual president, Emmanuel Macron, head of France’s
government.
“I met President Macron at Sorbonne, and he pleasantly commented on
the fact that it was, ‘Very nice to see Schneider Electric walking the talk
on diversity, and putting a woman as the head of the Gulf countries,’ ”
Darwish said.
“You can always talk,” she continued, “you can always make nice
speeches, but if you’re not pushing diversified people in to senior
positions, it would not be visible to others.”

This was crucial, she said, to signaling to young women that your
company is a welcoming place for them to work, and that they can
expect to have their hard work and ambition rewarded.
Darwish emphasised though that any sort of mentorship scheme
shouldn’t be forced, but rather mentorship should be enabled and
encouraged.
“I do it [mentor young women], but not in a formal way,” she said,
adding: “Because young women, when they face the working
environment, they need guidance and support for smooth integration.”
One of the key benefits of making mentorship voluntary is that people
don’t simply do it to tick a box: When it happens, it is authentic and
productive.
Darwish is a big believer in authenticity; talking about doing something
is just not good enough in her eyes.

“Putting a woman at the head of the organisation,
not a man, was important symbolically, to show
people that we were walking the talk,”
she said. “At the same time, it’s not about men or women, it’s about
competencies and for companies to take chances on talent.”
Despite women’s workplace challenges, corporate policies on workplace
life balance is crucial to encourage well-being and to send positive
signals that encourage talent development, Darwish added.
“I am optimistic. There is one thing in this world that can create a
revolution: The percentage of educated women that are in the market
is growing more and more. If companies don’t focus on the 35 to 40 per
cent of universities made up of women, then they are losing those
brains,” she said.
“You can’t stop the water from flowing, and companies will need to
adapt to the coming changes, even if they are not strong believers now.
They will be obliged to look at women seriously.”

schneider-electric.com/ae

FBC Insights I 15

Senior Leaders Exclusive Interview

“You have to walk the talk”,
says Dulsco CEO on gender balance
David Stockton argues perception must be backed up by reality, and outlines that concrete
measures he has taken to welcome women to his company.

by Ed Clowes

T

hroughout Dulsco’s 83 years of operating, says the company’s
chief executive David Stockton, diversity has always been a part of its
character. It just hasn’t always been given a label.

Whilst noting that it was challenging to measure, Stockton said that in
terms of innovation, and balance in the workplace, it was significantly
better than when he arrived.

Now that the push for more women in business has gone mainstream,
and many companies have enshrined gender balance in to their
corporate ethos, Stockton says it is important that firms do more than
simply pay the issue lip service.

“The belief is that by having the right nationality,
the right gender, the right social mix, we can get a
far more innovative creation of product, a far more
blended approach to the markets we operate in, and
we’re able to work within different areas that
perhaps we had not tackled before,” he said.

“One thing we will not do is just tick the box” he said.
To ensure that Dulsco, an environmental, people and managed
solutions business, actually delivers on its promises, the company has
installed an infrastructure within the company to support women, and
make the business as welcoming as possible.
“Having the infrastructure, through making sure we have the right mix
of facilities is key. We’ve now put a lot more emphasis on ensuring that
we’re an attractive place to be for gender balance, whether that’s
through the ability to care for you if you’ve just returned from
maternity leave, career development or sport and recreation, facilities,”
Stockton said.

The environmental solutions industry has traditionally been seen as a
transport operation and that traditionally has not attracted woman, so
attracting and retaining talent is often a challenge for companies.
Dulsco has established a number of initiatives, including attendance at
career fairs in the Northern Emirates, to reach out to young IT and
chemical engineers and highlight the many opportunities in this space
that can support the environmental vision of the country whilst
delivering rewarding careers.

By the very nature of its business, Dulsco, which employs in excess of
14,000 people in the UAE says it has always had a very large cultural
diversity, with its workforce standing today at 55 different nationalities.
In the 18 months since he’s been at the company, Stockton says that
he has tried to evolve Dulsco diversity strategy further, and to embrace
inclusion and gender balance more than they had done previously.
“That will give us a competitive advantage in the spaces that we
operate,” he said, adding: “We cannot have one size that fits all
approach, and that gender balance has changed significantly now as
well. But equally, so has the infrastructure to be able to facilitate that.”
But most importantly, the top executive added, was involving women in
the direction of the company: Ensuring that they are a part of the
decision making process, and driving the firm’s innovation.
Dulsco’s approach has paid dividends, according to Stockton.
Asked whether a more equal gender balance had improved Dulsco’s
business performance, he said: “Without a shadow of a doubt.”

16 I FBC Insights

David Stockton
Chief Executive Officer Dulsco

Seniors Leaders Exclusive Interview

Elsewhere, the company has established an emerging leaders
programme, designed to spot talent from within, singling out talented
young employees for future management positions, and providing
them with the necessary mentorship and support.
This allows women who were looking at a potential career at Dulsco to
see “what they could become,” Stockton said.
Regarding the importance of women perceiving a company to be a
welcoming place to work, he said: “The perception has to be backed up
by reality.”
“If it’s not backed up by reality, there’s no point…I want women to be
able to say Dulsco is a great place to work,” Stockton said.
In order to ensure that the firm’s image is backed up by action, Dulsco
says that it has introduced health and wellbeing sessions, yoga and
Zumba classes run by the staff and we consider one day sick leave
every month for the ladies, should it be required, without requesting
for a medical certificate. We also provide significantly longer maternity
leave than the minimum required.

“I think that’s quite progressive for a business. It’s not on the job
advertisement, but it’s something that we’re happy to do, because we
understand that it’s difficult,” Stockton said.
“You must walk the talk,” he added.

As a result, the company has established a 10 point
charter that is the company’s ethos on diversity,
openness, and fairness, which the senior leadership
team is held accountable for.
“It’s all about transparency,” Stockton said.

“It’s not top-down, it’s top-down bottom-up, and we get that mix through
male and female, and cross culturally as well, and that’s been a big change,”
he concluded.

dulsco.com

FBC Insights I 17

Senior Leaders Exclusive Interview

Becoming more and more diverse,
the Thales way
The French giant is trying to reverse decades of Franco-centricity,
in order to reap the benefits of having local people do local business.

by Ed Clowes

“As a company, we are trying to become less and less French” said

Roger Daix
Vice President Thales Middle East

Roger Daix, in a recent interview at his office in Dubai.

Daix is vice president of the Middle East for multinational Thales,
which provides services to the defence, aerospace, and ground
transportation industries.
The company, which employs 65,000 people, recorded sales of $19.4
billion in 2017. In the Middle East, Thales employs 1500 people.
However, Daix is not satisfied.

“The company should represent all the countries
where we are based. We need local citizens who are
part of our team, and who are able to interface and
work with local customers” he said.
“It’s clear that we have a big challenge in front of us.”
Historically, like many other Western companies, Thales has sourced
its staff largely from its country of origin, in this case France.
Where necessary, it has looked to other European nations such as the
UK and Germany to hire talent.
With operations in over 56 countries, Thales is truly a global business.
“We were used to expatriating people from Paris or even from Europe,
but mainly from Paris” Daix said.
Now, however, he said that Thales was focused on recruiting local
people and local managers.
According to Daix, in attempting to build a more diverse workforce, his
organisation is faced with three challenges: Firstly, he must convince
his managers of the need for change; secondly, Thales must establish
the right channels of recruitment and thirdly, the firm must work out
how to retain talent and develop their skills.
In order to do this successfully, Daix says that he has had to identify
local universities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that are producing
quality graduates with the correct competencies.

As a result, Daix believes, the organisation would “benefit from
diversity.”
“I think it’s obvious that when you have local people you close the gap
in terms of culture, understanding, behaviour, the ability to listen and
understand what was said by the customer” Daix said.
“It’s a way to have a strong intimacy with the customer” he added.
In the region, Thales does a lot of its business in large Arabic speaking
countries such as Egypt, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. Daix says that the
people interfacing with these markets should be from the countries
themselves.
“Those people have to be citizens … and we should be able to offer
them a career and a good position in our organisation” he said. “In the
UAE, we have to be Emirati. In China, we have to be Chinese,” the top
executive added.
Having a workforce made up of different cultures would also allow for
a diversity of viewpoints and new perspectives, according to Daix.
“We don’t only want a Franco-centric perspective on each topic.”
In order to become an attractive place to work and to retain talent of
different nationalities and cultures, Thales has embarked on a
wide-reaching programme to develop mentoring systems and
implement strong policies on workplace discrimination.

it has “long been engaged in
the fight against all forms of discrimination based on
age, disability, gender or prejudice. Our employees
share this commitment.”

On its website, Thales says that

It adds that when new employees join the company, they receive
equality and diversity training as part of the induction process and this
training is refreshed throughout their careers.

FBC Insights I 19

Seniors Leaders Exclusive Interview

Asked about his approach to discrimination in the office, Daix said that
any allegation of intolerant or bigoted behaviour would be dealt with
swiftly to ensure a positive working environment.
Beyond ensuring that people from different backgrounds face no bias
or prejudiced behaviour whilst working for Thales, the company has
also prioritised mentorship systems and anonymous feedback
channels.
“As soon as someone starts, we appoint a mentor to him or her to help
them better understand the company and help them to network” Daix
said.
If an individual had complained, Daix added, but hadn’t seen anything
done about it “there’s the possibility to write or contact a specific
committee that is independent from the management.”
“Anyone can raise a point about discrimination to an independent
ethics officer.”
The top executive added that Thales has a society for young people in
the company to liaise with, and to support one another.

20 I FBC Insights

In order to nurture future leaders the multinational
also runs something it calls a ‘talent booster’, aimed at
giving specific corporate training to “young talent
coming from the emerging countries.”
“The objective is to train and develop them to take a senior position
within the organisation,” Daix said.
Ultimately, Thales offers people of all different backgrounds a “career
that can be very interesting, with lots of things to do, different
challenges across space, aerospace, defence, and security,” he noted.
Staff could expect to work in many locations, including the UK, France,
Australia and China, changing positions every three to four years to
ensure a diversified and stimulating career.

This kind of exciting working environment would
ensure that “one day, hopefully an Emirati will run
Thales” Daix concluded.

WEPs’ Signatories Dubai Event

French companies celebrate International
Women’s Day by signing UN pledge to
balance genders
Senior officials from over 20 of France’s largest corporations gathered earlier
this month in Dubai, to sign the United Nation’s women empowerment principles

by Ed Clowes

O

n International Women’s Day this year, over 20 multinational
French companies marked the occasion by making official their
commitment to the United Nation’s (UN) women’s empowerment
principles (WEPs).
Société Générale organised a reception in honour of companies such
as Thales, Total, and Air France who became signatories to the
principles, which pledge to promote education, training and
professional development for women, and establish high-level
corporate leadership for gender equality through community initiatives
and advocacy.
“When you look at the women empowerment principles, by signing
them in the UAE it is reinforcing a message we’ve had here for a very
long time about the importance and the role of women in the society
and the workplace,” said Assma Gosaibat, deputy managing director of
Total UAE Services.
So by signing the WEPs, she added, it was an “opportunity to remind
us of the importance of the principles, which highlights almost a
roadmap on how we can engage women more and empower them in an
effective way.”
In line with its “Life is On” programme, Schneider Electric says its aim
is to provide equal opportunities to “everyone, everywhere.”
“Empowering women is a key pillar of our diversity strategy, along with
commitment by leaders, change management campaigns, and aligning
with human resources,” said Hanan Darwish, regional President for the
Gulf and Pakistan at Schneider Electric, in an interview at the event. ”
“Diversity and inclusion is in our DNA, and it is our heritage and our
future. We aim to become the world’s most diverse and inclusive
company” she added.
The company has seen its diversity grow steadily, setting strict
short-term targets to improve women representation from 18 per cent
in 2017, to 35 per cent by 2019, while also achieving 50 per cent
female recruitment in 2018.

“As part of the French Business Council Dubai’s drive
to “Embrace Diversity”,
we’re celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political benefits of
having a more diverse and inclusive workplace,” Darwish said.
Other principles that the French companies committed to on March 7,
in the presence of French Ambassador to the UAE Ludovic Pouille,
include the implementation of enterprise development and marketing
practices that empower women, and the promotion of gender equality
through community initiatives and advocacy.

For Air France, the evening was an
opportunity to recognise, and
reward, the women at its company
for their contribution.
Gilles Roche, general manager for
the Gulf, Saudi Arabia, Iran and
Pakistan, Air France KLM Group, said
about the company’s philosophy:
“I would say that [equality] is somewhere in our DNA, because when
you look at the percentage of women working in our group, it’s almost
45 per cent, so it was something that was initiated a long time ago.”
His colleague, Primrose John, a regional human resources partner,
added:

We can proudly say that in our regional head office,
the commercial department, which is made up of
revenue management, pricing, marketing and
communications, and business analysis, all key
departments in steering our business, are headed by
women.”
The UAE had come a long way, she said. “Today, many women in the
UAE are frontrunners in their respective fields.”
Roche added that Air France KLM’s positive and inclusive attitude
towards hiring women was attracting other women to the company.

Reiterating the power of women role models, senior executive
Mireille Nader said: “I am pleased to share with young women
my experience and I am open to all questions in order to
encourage them.”
Nader is a key account manager at French defence giant Thales.
“It has not been as easy for my generation as it might be now for
women in defence, but things are evolving rapidly and positively” she
said.
Thales says it is encouraging diversity and inclusion and pushing
talent.
“Women are empowered and encouraged to take leading positions but
they also need to have the courage to assume the responsibilities given

FBC Insights I 21

WEPs’ Signatories Dubai Event

Under President Emmanuel Macron, France has a gender-balanced
cabinet with 11 of 22 posts taken by women, in accordance with an
earlier pledge.

The UAE is the 35th country that Sodexo has signed the WEPs in, and
Roux says that it is hoping to commit to the principles in even more
countries.

According to the UN, 50 French companies have already agreed to
participate in the WEPs, signalling their support for gender equality
and the guidance provided by the principles.

Richad Soundarjee, chief executive of Société Générale, said that he
believed corporations had a societal role to play.

As a new signatory to the principles, transportation company RATP
Dev said that they were honored and proud to be part of the initiative
in the UAE.
“Our commitment to gender equality and balance is measured and
reviewed on a regular basis as part of our corporate continuous
improvement process. In this respect, we have set internal targets
related to the number of women in our global organization and at
executive positions” said Francois Bonsignori, chief financial officer,
RATP Dev, Asia, Middle East and North Africa.
Since the launch of the women's empowerment principles in 2010,
over 1,000 CEOs from around the world have signed the CEO
Statement of Support for the WEPs.
One company that had previously signed the WEPs in France, but only
signed them in the UAE at the ceremony in March, is Sodexo, which
employs over 420,000 people across 80 countries.
“It’s important that we signed [the principles], because it helps us
promote what we are.
And equal treatment of women and men is not just right thing to do, it
is also good for the business,” said Veronika Roux, head of business
development and sales at Sodexo Middle East.

22 I FBC Insights

“The topic of gender balance and women
empowerment is very obviously part of what the
region, and the leadership here, is trying to achieve,”
Soundarjee said.

Within Société Générale, Soundarjee added, individuals had
championed the issue and forced the company to pay attention.
When we thought about the best angle to achieve gender
equality, it was very apparent that the WEPs were the right
medium by which we could make a statement, and make a
commitment,” he continued.
Often referred to as Equality Means Business, the principles
emphasise the business case for corporate action to promote
gender equality and women's empowerment, and are informed
by business practices and input gathered from across the globe,
according to the UN.

WEPs’ Signatories Dubai Event

For industrial company Vallourec’s head of human resources (HR) in
Saudi Arabia, the principles are an important standard for gender
equity at work.
Fatima Al Jawad says that it is not often to see women entering
technical professions in Saudi Arabia.
“In manufacturing industry, you rarely see women joining...”
However, she added, after she joined Vallourec, Al Jawad learned that
“It’s not a place to survive, but to grow and evolve.
She argued that this was what would ultimately entice women to work
for a company.
“The WEPs provide us with foundations that we can implement and
follow,” Al Jawad said.
AXA Gulf, the insurance provider, said that gender parity was not only
a “key priority for us as an organisation, it is also a key innovation
driver and a vital asset for us.”
“By signing the UN WEPs we re-enforce our commitment to empower
women across all spectrums. At AXA, we truly believe that our
company needs to reflect the societies we live in and the
multiculturalism of our customers,” said Cedric Charpentier, CEO at
AXA Gulf.”
Locally, Axa says that in just a short period of time, it has managed to
achieve equal representation of its executive level members, who are
now 50 per cent women.
Estelle Pagnon-Pouille, wife of the French ambassador to the UAE,
called the signing of the principles “very important.”

“The companies that have signed tonight are major companies from
France. And so they will act like models,” she said.
On the UAE’s progress, Pagnon-Pouille said: “I think the UAE is already
very active in the empowerment of women. As you can see, the majority
of higher education students here in the UAE are women.”
She continued: “What is important is that the private sector, through its
commitment to the WEPs, has decided to change things. The
independence of women is really important for them.
It’s important when you have a business that all your employees feel
well treated and equal.”
Agnes Lopez Cruz, managing director of the French Business Council,
concluded:
“The FBC, through Societe Generale and UNGC’s drive, has been
involved from the first day and organized several meetings and
workshops to promote the WEPs among its members, encouraging
them to join forces for this common initiative. We are particularly proud
of our French business community tonight.”
“Nevertheless, even if the signature of more than 20 French companies
is a very encouraging first step, it’s not an end in itself. This is indeed
the very beginning of a challenging and exciting journey.”

Dubai, 7th March 2018. Ed Clowes interviews with Gilles Roche, Air France-KLM
General Manager UAE, and Primrose John, Air France-KLM Head of HR for the
region.

She added: “You can count on the FBC Dubai to play its part to the full,
and provide continuous operational support to the French companies
through our diversity and inclusion think tank, as well as our HR
working group. Let's meet a year from now to gauge the progress that
has been achieved.”

FBC Insights I 23

Regional Testimonies

GENDER DIVERSITY AND PARITY IS
A KEY PRIORITY AT AXA GULF
Gender diversity/parity is a key priority for us at AXA Gulf. We are
committed to empowering our workforce across all spectrums, and
strongly believe in developing policies and programs that help change
peoples’ mind-set and behaviour. There are several Diversity & Inclusion
initiatives that have been implemented by our Diversity & Inclusion
Council, which support our strategy.
First, we have launched a sponsorship program aimed at our key female
and local talent which acknowledges and actively propels the next
generation of leaders to the top. Sponsors are partnered with our
Executive team who share their business experiences, providing
senior-level networking opportunities.
Second, we have established a diversity and inclusion roadmap to
address disparities, align our policies in terms of compensation and
benefits, and ensure parity across all levels.
We are particularly proud to have introduced implemented a parent policy
in January 2017, which entitles staff to sixteen weeks paid maternity
leave and four weeks paid paternity leave.

24 I FBC Insights

Cedric Charpentier
CEO, AXA Gulf
Third, we have developed policies specifically aimed at driving change
that benefit employees and support an inclusive environment, such as
our ‘New Ways of Working’. This flexible working programme empowers
employees to consider where, how and when they work, which enables
greater achievement, higher job satisfaction and better work and life
balance.
Fourth, we have ensured parity in recruitment by actively including
women in the shortlist for each role. We will also soon begin the
process of introducing blind CVs to our recruitment practice in order to
remove any form of unconscious bias. Finally, we have partnered with a
special needs foundation to support those with disabilities whilst
including them in the workplace.

Regional Testimonies

Sodexo’s Gender Balance Case study
As companies around the world become increasingly diverse and
interconnected, the scarcity of women in leadership positions has
emerged as a pressing concern for organisational stakeholders, and
society at large. Recent statistics highlight the magnitude of the
problem: According to a 2017 report by McKinsey, only one in every
four management positions is held by a woman. The gender gap is even
starker when it comes to senior leadership positions in large
corporations, with only 5.2 per cent of the S&P 500’s CEOs being
women.

The study found that teams managed by a balanced mix of men and
women were more successful across a wide range of outcomes,
including operating margins, client and employee retention, employee
engagement, safety, and other key performance indicators, compared to
teams with gender-imbalanced management.

In terms of employee engagement, defined as the number of entities
with an employee engagement rate higher than the external benchmark
in 2016, it was 14 percentage points higher for firms with
gender-balanced management. For employee retention, defined as the
average employee retention rate in 2016, it was 8 percentage points
higher for entities with gender-balanced management.

For safety, defined as the number of entities that decreased workplace
accident rates between 2014 and 2016, firms with gender-balanced
management were 12 percentage points higher.

A focus on key business performance indicators

Key findings included the following: The retention rate of 90 per cent or
more in 2016 was 9 percentage points higher for entities with
gender-balanced management.

Lastly, for operating margins, defined as the number of entities
significantly increasing operating margins between 2014 and 2016,
they were 8 percentage points higher for entities with gender-balanced
management.

In 2014, Sodexo aimed to contribute to this knowledge by launching an
internal study to explore and understand the correlation between
gender balanced management and performance. This effort became
known as the gender balance study, a multi-year longitudinal analysis of
gender parity within all levels of leadership globally at Sodexo.
“We believe that gender balance fosters creativity and innovation, and
ultimately drives better business results. When women reach their full
potential, business and society are stronger and more successful,” said
Sophie Bellon, chairwoman of the Sodexo board.

To know more about this study and how we make every day a better day
please visit www.sodexo.com

A better tomorrow
for everyone
it’s part of what we do every day.

Member of
Bloomberg’s 2018
Gender-Equality
Index

51

years of global
experience

Best Companies for
Multicultural Women
list by Working
Mother Magazine

4,27000
employees

Ranked in the top 10 of DiversityInc
magazine's 'Top 50 Companies for
Diversity' list for the 9th consecutive
year in 2017

19th

largest employer
in the world

Recognized by FORTUNE Magazine's
World's Most Admired Companies
list, Change the World list and the
FORTUNE 500 list

People with determination in the workplace: an asset!
A UAE business case

Mike Davis

Regional Director Middle East
CSM Sport & Entertainment

I

’m not going to lie: 11 months ago, we hadn’t even thought about
developing and delivering an inclusiveness programme for People with
Determination for our business in the Middle East and Africa region.
However, 11 months ago, our second daughter, named Tallulah, was
born. She was unexpectedly born with Down syndrome. Cue an
immediate crash course of what that actually means, what support she
needs, and is the UAE set up to provide what we need. Overwhelming
at times, but 11 months later Tallulah is healthy and happy and we are
equipped to make key decisions relevant to Tallulah and our future.
Tallulah’s arrival coincided with our business, CSM Sport and
Entertainment, working with the Special Olympics World Games
Organising Committee to support the promotion and delivery of the
World Games, taking place in the capital in March 2019.
I have been blown away by the power and scale of the Special Olympics
movement, and in a little under a year an estimated 7,000 Special
Olympics athletes and their 2,600 coaches from over 170 countries will
arrive in Abu Dhabi to take part in the world’s largest humanitarian
event, to celebrate inclusion and break down the barriers that exist for
people and families living with intellectual disability.
Having a daughter with determination in the UAE presents some
genuine challenges, and we know only too well how important it is for
society to evolve in a way in which it accepts, supports and includes.
That is why we felt it so important to develop our own inclusiveness
programme - to provide opportunity for individuals with determination
to come and work for us in a part- and full-time capacity.

More on Special Olympics Abu Dhabi: abudhabi2019.org
csm.com

26 I FBC Insights

Our rather naked ambition was to employ an individual in a full-time
capacity in our office in Abu Dhabi from the get-go. However, with the
help of the Sedra foundation, we have ensured that the programme has
been very carefully planned and managed, ensuring the individuals
joining the team, our staff and other stakeholders are all aware of
important considerations that need to be factored in so that our
programme can thrive in the future.
We are delighted to say that we have recently completed the pilot
project. Asma, a wonderfully bubbly, capable and endearing person,
joined our office management team to assist in the day-to-day
administration and running of the business.
The experience has been such a positive one. It not only provides
opportunity to People with Determination but it encourages our staff
to have a more holistic outlook on work and life and raises awareness
and action against a really important social challenge.
We are also using our positive experience to advise the Special
Olympics World Games Commercial team and ensure that any
commercial partner that comes on board to support the movement
makes a pledge to provide programmes of inclusiveness in their
businesses as part of their partnership with the project.
I would love to see all partners and supporters of Special Olympics
develop and adopt their own inclusiveness programmes. That would be
a brilliant legacy left by a once in a lifetime milestone for the country.
Our vision is to develop a series of programmes for our 28 offices
around the world with the intention of providing full-time, paid
opportunities for People with Determination within our workforce. All
this contributing to a much more rounded, inclusive society. That’s the
shoot for the stars bit from me. For now, we will continue to welcome
those with determination into the CSM family.

Regional Testimonies

The D-Words: Diversity,
Disability and People of Determination
Insights from an UAE Inclusion Catalyst

Renate Baur-Richter
Program Manager
SEDRA Foundation

There is good news. In the UAE, more organisations have an interest in
creating opportunities for people with disabilities than ever before.
The bad news? Not all of them do know how to get started. There is no
shortage of proposed approaches, but fundamentally, inclusion
initiatives need a distinctive UAE perspective operating within the
specifics of the community.
The Sedra Foundation for the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities is a
non-profit organisation, acting as an inclusionary catalyst that partners
with the community to build a more accessible ecosystem for all.
In addition, Sedra is the legacy partner of the Special Olympics World
Games 2019 Abu Dhabi. So what is the first piece of advice Sedra
offers to companies?

The second step is to consider niche projects that test the internal
water. Sedra coined the term ‘disruptive inclusion’ for this drive.
This local model is a launch pad for joint ventures that fit into the
corporate culture.
Rather than starting an employment programme in the first place, it
might set a more robust base for future directions to contribute to a
community project, to offer short-term internships, to qualify staff as
inclusion volunteers, book ‘unified volunteers’ (volunteers with
disabilities) for an event or to get involved in non-formal education.
This low-key implementation leads to a more inclusion-confident
organisation, from solely corporate social responsibility to a corporate
shared value attitude.

“Step back. Observe, ask, and slow down.” Inclusion is
not a race, it is a mindset.
Analysing the motivation and the expectations sounds commonplace,
however this reflection leads to programmes that are deeply grounded
in the organization.

For more details, contact SEDRA: info@sedra.org

FBC Insights I 27

D&I Panorama: Cross Perspectives

D&I Panorama: Cross Perspectives
Do you see key differences between the European
and UAE market when it comes to diversity
and inclusion? Are they common trends?
RACHEL MOOSA, ACCOR HOTELS
With regards to different nationalities, the UAE is a very welcoming
and diversified destination. Many of our hotels have more than fifty
different nationalities as part of their team, bringing with them
wonderful experiences from around the globe. The UAE has taken
measures to ensure that Emirati nationals are encouraged towards
businesses in the country, in order to maximise the potential of
home-grown talent.
We are seeing a shift towards promoting female leaders in the UAE,
particularly with the great role models, including Forbes 100 Most
Influential Women Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, the UAEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Minister for
Tolerance, and Raja Easa Al Gurg, managing director of Easa Saleh
Al Gurg Group.

ANITA VAN GAAL, AIR FRANCE
Our purpose is to create memorable experiences for our customers,
and we strive to achieve this collectively as a team. It is about being
able to touch our customer. By having diverse teams, we have a
broad range of skills and behavioural sets, which allow us to meet
these different customer expectations. It is proven that diversity will
lead to more efficient teams. This is applicable in a worldwide
context, and is as valid in Europe and North America as it is in the
Gulf.

DESPO MICHAELIDES, AXA
Yes, there are some key differences between the European and UAE
markets when it comes to diversity and inclusion. Europe is quite
complex with new legislation in force across many countries for the
LGBT community; with women and ethnic minorities being
underutilised in the workplace. At the same time, most companies
operating in Europe face the challenge of laws prohibiting them
from collecting data on peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s race, ethnicity, and ability or
disability, whereas in the UAE this is not the case. Certain norms,
which are not applicable in Europe, do prevail in the UAE. For
example, there are currently no UAE laws directly prohibiting
companies from measuring diversity progress, whilst measuring the
same in Europe is much more challenging. There are, on the other
hand, many common trends between the markets, with the UAE
adopting new ways of working, such as agile or flexitime, increased
maternity and paternity leave benefits, and a drive to ensure gender
parity in the workplace to specifically address women. Historically,
People of Determination (people with disabilities) were not actively
promoted in the workplace in the UAE, but this has changed.

Peter Haugaard
Head of People, Performance
& Culture
KPMG Lower Gulf

Sarah Tabet
Human Ressources Director ME
SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC ME

Thierry Delaplace
Human Ressources Director ME & Africa
THALES

28 I FBC Insights

D&I Panorama: Cross Perspectives

NATHALIE AMIEL-FERRAULT, FEDEX EXPRESS
The UAE has a cosmopolitan community with a wealth of
nationalities, and people from a range of different cultural and
professional backgrounds. In my experience, professionals from
European countries are impressed at how innovative and progressive
UAE society is, particularly in terms of gender diversity. In terms of
common trends, I see a strong commitment to the topic of diversity
and inclusion in both Europe and the UAE, and there is a real
understanding that diversity is not only a social necessity, but also a
benefit for national economies, governments, and private
businesses.

PETER HAUGAARD, KPMG
The underlying challenges are fairly universal. Here, the push for
gender equality is clearly the common focus. This is, of course, no
surprise as half the world’s population is female, and the biggest
imperative is to ensure a more balanced gender mix among decision
makers across all levels in public and private organizations. We are
still far from having this balance in place, and I think this heavily
influences the agenda.
There are some clear differences between the European and the
UAE markets when it comes to diversity and inclusion. One big
difference is the UAE seems to be much more focused on creating a
level playing field for people of determination. In Europe, most
countries have limited focus on this aspect of diversity and inclusion.
Most of us know people of determination, and yet they have rarely
been the focus of attention, so the efforts here to shine a light on
this group are very welcome.

SARAH TABET, SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC
When we speak about diversity and inclusion, there are numerous
attributes such as nationality, gender balance, and additional
aspects that make up a heterogeneous country and workforce.
A distinct characteristic of the UAE and the Gulf region is that there
are more than 200 nationalities, with the UAE made up of around
80 per cent expatriates. This diverse workforce raises the need for
employers to consider cultural differences at every level of their
organisation. While major cities share strong diversity
characteristics, the population is overall more homogeneous than
the UAE.
In terms of gender balance, however, similarly to Europe the UAE
government and organisations are pushing to increase the number
of women in leadership roles. For example, women now comprise
nearly 30 per cent of the ministerial cabinet, higher than many
countries worldwide. The UAE gender balance council aims for the
UAE to become one of the world’s top 25 countries for gender
equality by 2021.
However, the private sector still has a major gap in the presence of
women in leadership roles, both in the UAE, the wider Gulf region,
and in Europe. The private sector should work closely with the public
and academic sectors to enable more women to join private sector
organisations.

THIERRY DELAPLACE, THALES
The main difference is that in the Middle East, Thales has more than
40 nationalities, with people coming from all over the world.
However, in Europe, the globalisation trend is less pronounced.
Furthermore, European countries have additional regulations in
terms of discrimination and employees disability.
As for common trends, gender diversity and the generation gap are
both shared traits between the two regions, creating a shortage of
talent as a consequence.

What initiatives have made
a real difference?
RACHEL MOOSA, ACCOR HOTELS
In the region, we have doubled the number of female general
managers within the last 12 months, and we are pleased to have
appointed a Saudi national as the first female general manager in
Saudi Arabia. We have created a local committee to support the
integration of Saudi women in the workplace, which includes holding
managerial positions, and I am proud to announce that we have
graduated women as leaders from our SMTP (Saudi Management
Training Program).
AccorHotels also just launched a co-mentoring programme, where
we encourage cross-generational mentoring relationships so that
‘smart leaders’ can learn more about the digitalisation of work from
‘smart digits’ and other platforms.
We also partnered with leading companies to assist our hotels in
integrating people with disabilities (PWD) in to the workplace,
alongside the creation of a PWD policy and learning kit for each
disability, to assist hotel team members in making PWD employees
feel welcome.

ANITA VAN GAAL, AIR FRANCE
Our organisation in the Gulf is made up of a stimulating fusion of
over 25 different nationalities, and a mix of genders in varied
divisions. We believe that diversity and inclusion in a corporate
setting starts right at the point of hiring. Our recruitment teams are
made up of diverse individuals and roles, leading to fair and unbiased
recruitment practices. This results in a blend of diverse teams and
encourages openness, as well as understanding and nurturing other
cultures. Creating equal opportunities for all is also key in promoting
diversity and inclusion. Fostering an environment where talent
recognition, training, project allocation, mentoring and other vital
motivational rewards are accessible to each and every team member
leads to a positive and harmonious work philosophy.

FBC Insights I 29

D&I Panorama: Cross Perspectives

DESPO MICHAELIDES, AXA
Some of the key initiatives that made a difference to empower our
people, transform our culture, and delight our customers included
the fact that gender diversity is key to our business success, and at
the senior executive level we have managed to achieve 50 per cent
female representation. Building on from this, we are embedding
gender representation into our succession pools to build a pipeline
for the future. We are particularly proud to have introduced and
implemented a parent policy in January 2017. This entitles staff to
16 weeks paid maternity leave and four weeks paid paternity leave.
Another key initiative to drive inclusion in our workplace is our ‘New
Ways of Working’ policy. This involved implementing a flexible
working programme, empowering our employees to consider where,
how and when they work, which enables our staff to achieve more,
have higher job satisfaction and a better work-life balance.
Moreover, we launched a sponsorship programme aimed at our key
female and local talent by partnering them with our executive team,
who share business experiences and create opportunities for senior
level networking. The main aim is to foster a culture that not only
acknowledges talent, but that actively propels the next generation of
leaders to the top.
We established a diversity and inclusion road map to address any
disparities, and to align our policies in terms of compensation and
benefits and ensure parity across all levels.
Our recruitment practices ensure parity by actively including women
and local nationals in the shortlist for each role and are based on
equal opportunities for all.
Underpinning all of this, we have a diversity and inclusion council
that drives our strategy, which is focused on people, culture, and
marketplace.

NATHALIE AMIEL-FERRAULT, FEDEX EXPRESS
When the leadership team is personally committed to the topic it
inspires real change. When diversity is driven by those at the very
top of the organization, it is brought into discussions throughout
the business around key topics such as talent acquisition,
professional development and succession planning.
Support from our leadership has ensured that diversity and
inclusion is a key business consideration, and discussed at each level,
in each function of the organization.
Sharing personal stories from our managers and senior executives
has inspired and benefited our team members. Women, who are at
senior manager level or above at FedEx, are encouraged to share
their personal experiences, including how they have developed and
progressed through the company, and how they have overcome any
personal or professional challenges that arose during their career.
FedEx has also invited women entrepreneurs to share their success
stories and inspire others with their personal journeys.

PETER HAUGAARD, KPMG
There are few silver bullets in this game, but I think a couple of
elements have really been transformational. Two years ago we kicked
off two major initiatives to change the mix and dynamics of the
organization. The first aimed to attract more female talent, and the
second to impact the ethnic mix to include more native
Arabic-speakers and Europeans. Both initiatives have been highly
successful and the very fabric of the organization has evolved as a
result. We have retained the KPMG spirit, but now we are also a
much more diverse team. Diversity is not always easy, but we feel
strongly that the benefits far outstrip any teething problems we
may encounter, and people have received the changes with open
arms.

30 I FBC Insights

SARAH TABET, SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC
At Schneider Electric, what has made a real difference has been the
global step taken into recognising diversity as a business imperative,
and not just an initiative by human resources.
As part of our global ‘people strategy,’ we have added diversity and
inclusion as one of the six key transformation priorities, impacting
how we operate globally and locally. Our recruitment strategies
support our commitment to increase the level of representation of
women across the pipeline.
Schneider Electric has established dedicated executive-level groups
to drive towards gender parity. We support the HeForShe IMPACT
10x10x10 initiative, which aims for global role models to set the
tone for gender equality, alongside many initiatives to promote
education, training and awareness around diversity and inclusion.
This ensures we are a diverse and inclusive company where
differences are valued and respected, and equal opportunities
offered to everyone, everywhere.
In recognition of our global family leave policy, gender pay equity
process, and access to energy training and entrepreneurship
programme, Schneider Electric was also listed in the 2018
Bloomberg Gender Equality Index, a barometer of gender equality
performance in worldwide sectors.

THIERRY DELAPLACE, THALES
Around one year ago, we began on our journey to engage and
empower the female population, improve the gender mix when we
recruit, hire a better mix between locals and expats, and give chances
to young local talents through our ‘Talent Booster Programme’.
We also introduced new maternity benefits above GCC local
requirements, worked to raise awareness around unconscious bias,
and promote a better work-life balance to increase our efficiency.
Lastly, we introduced a diversity and inclusion charter, which is an
opportunity to provide a common framework, and hold everyone
accountable.

What are you 5 tips to make
a team inclusive?
RACHEL MOOSA, ACCOR HOTELS

Step 1: Address micro challenges throughout the career lifecycle –
so when a workplace challenge comes up, address it.
Step 2: Create visibility into leadership opportunities for all – this
can be through mentoring, communication, cross exposure.
Step 3: Make flexible work schedules the default across all levels –
accommodate those who need it.
Step 4: Create accelerated on-ramps to re-activate people who
temporarily “opt-out” of the career – many people take a break for
many reasons, make it easier for those people to re-enter the
workplace.
Step 5: Communicate regularly – ensure that you discuss challenges
and barriers on a regular basis.

D&I Panorama: Cross Perspectives

ANITA VAN GAAL, AIR FRANCE
Step 1: First, it is about awareness. Hiring managers should strive
for balance.
Step 2: Train to be consciously unbiased and mind-bug free.
Step 3: Set targets and goals to focus and steer.
Step 4: Start with small steps and gain commitment from the top
level.
Step 5: Create and facilitate open platforms and networking
opportunities with role models.

DESPO MICHAELIDES, AXA
Step 1: Be relentlessly persistent - building an inclusive team takes
time and something you have to commit to working on, even when
it isn't the most convenient or comfortable way to operate.
Step 2: Encourage consistent and open communication - creating a
safe space where every voice is heard. Allow and encourage
opportunity for dialogue on important issues, challenges, and
initiatives that impact your customers.
Step 3: Create a clear vision that celebrates individual differences make it clear from the outset that each person's differences are an
advantage to the team and add value and learning.
Step 4: Choose to practice empathy - to better understand and
appreciate customers and team members who have backgrounds
and experiences that are different from your own, you've got to
consider situations from their point of view.
Step 5: Create a sense of belonging – create an environment where
everyone on the team feels like they belong. A sense of belonging
and inclusion doesn’t come from fitting in, but from being accepted.

NATHALIE AMIEL-FERRAULT, FEDEX EXPRESS
Step 1: Make a conscious effort to recruit a diverse workforce. Insist
that your recruitment team or agency provide a diverse candidate
pool for selection, and challenge them if your request isn’t met.
Step 2: Recognise people as individuals. Our managers work with
their teams to develop individual career pathways that work for each
team member. FedEx Online Academy offers job-specific training,
leadership and self-development modules, and all team members from courier to CEO - can access an annual amount to fund any
external training or education course.
Step 3: Consider the impact you can make outside your organization.
It’s important to encourage good practices on a wider scale. FedEx
works with community groups to demonstrate this commitment.
Step 4: Measure and communicate. For any goals or objectives to
succeed, they must be measured, and the results shared within the
company.
Step 5: Analyse your data. Find the root cause for any gaps in
performance, be it in the areas of training, promotions, absences,
resignation or others. Once you’ve identified the root cause, identify
the solution, or what actions you can take to address these results.

PETER HAUGAARD, KPMG
There are probably many answers to this, but I think a successful
recipe includes the following elements:
Step 1: Make a conscious and deliberate decision to make your
team(s) more inclusive, and agree what this means.
Step 2: Set specific targets and agree milestones. This will help you
stay the course and remain true to the objective.
Step 3: Accept that we all carry unconscious biases around, and
ensure that everyone has training on unconscious biases and how to
spot and challenge them when they kick in. Unconscious biases
sneak in all over the place, and are easier to tackle once you have
created a common language for this.

SARAH TABET, SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC
Step 1: Inclusivity begins by revisiting the organisation’s recruitment
strategies to ensure hiring is approached with the objective of
fostering diversity and inclusion. It is crucial to build a mixed
workforce that provides a range of abilities, experience, knowledge,
and strengths brought by its heterogeneity in age, background,
ethnicity, physical abilities, beliefs, and other attributes.
Step 2: Celebrate diversity and educate employees across the
organisation about different practices, such as Diwali, International
Women’s Day, International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
Step 3: Create inclusive spaces where employees can spend time
with one another, and foster engaging conversations to help people
share their experiences.
Step 4: Encourage participation in employee- or company-driven
team building events, such as football matches, to foster
connections and networks.
Step 5: Ensure that policies are built in a way for everyone to feel like
they are truly welcome, safe and free to be themselves in the
workplace. Examples can include flexible dress codes, flexible
working hours, and family leave considerations.

THIERRY DELAPLACE, THALES
Step 1: Team members need to have a common understanding of
what inclusion is, and how it is applied and measured.
Step 2: Transparency and communication are key to break any
potential misunderstanding, or silos.
Step 3: Not to expect others to think, behave and act the same way
we do. Accept differences.
Step 4: Managers have to demonstrate leadership characteristic in
guiding employees through inclusion. They have an active role to
play to make it happen.
Step 5: On boarding and integration are initial phases of inclusion.

Do you have any staff dedicated to D&I?
If not, how do you ensure the role?
ANITA VAN GAAL, AIR FRANCE
Locally, our establishment covers 10 countries with about 250 staff.
Given these dynamics, we do not have a person dedicated to D&I in
this region. However, at both HQs Air France and KLM we have
colleagues at different levels working on D&I embedded in diverse
teams. Also at the executive level there is a commitment towards
the principles of diversity. A group of top executives has committed
to put together an agenda and action plan with a first focus on
gender equality in executive positions. Another example is an
internal KLM network ‘Woman on board’, steered by an executive
manager, with the aim to focus on women equality.

FBC Insights I 31

D&I Panorama: Cross Perspectives

DESPO MICHAELIDES, AXA

THIERRY DELAPLACE, THALES

At AXA Gulf we have a dedicated head of diversity and inclusion,
who fosters a culture of inclusion where all employees feel
respected, are treated with dignity, and where diversity of thought
and expression are valued and appreciated. She is supported by a
diversity and inclusion council, made up of a sponsor from our
executive committee, the chief HR and diversity officer, and six
volunteers from the business. The council’s role is to act as a
governing body for the diversity and inclusion agenda. The diversity
and inclusion sponsor is also part of the AXA global diversity and
inclusion steering committee, which builds the global diversity and
inclusion strategy focused on three work streams.
Firstly, people – to embed inclusion in all people practices. Secondly,
culture – with a focus on creating inclusive cultures, practices and
policies. And thirdly, marketplace – focusing on external presence
and customer points of view, positioning AXA as an employer of
choice.

We definitively have top managers dedicated to diversity and
inclusion, and it is crucial to make it happen in the company. First
and foremost because it is part of the Thales Group organisational
objectives. We have also implemented a steering committee at
regional level to ensure and manage all our actions in terms of
diversity and inclusion. Additionally, our talent manager’s mission
success is linked to the diversity and inclusion achievements.

NATHALIE AMIEL-FERRAULT, FEDEX EXPRESS
At FedEx, we believe that diversity and inclusion is everyone’s
responsibility. Following the hiring process, which is structured to
ensure a fair and balanced assessment of an individual’s skills and
behaviours, through to individual recognition, and skills
development, managers play a key role in helping their teams
identify and take advantage of opportunities for them to grow and
develop.
We are passionate about helping our team members to reach their
goals, and have put in place the tools and programmes they need to
achieve them.

PETER HAUGAARD, KPMG
Yes, we have staff dedicated to diversity and inclusion activities
across the firm. To us this is fairly simple: Although it is everyone’s
responsibility to build an inclusive environment where people of
diverse backgrounds can thrive, you need someone to drive these
efforts in the right direction – someone who can challenge our
processes and decisions, and someone who can help us hold the
mirror up to ourselves.
The agenda and impact of diversity and inclusion runs across
virtually all the classic HR and business functions, and we felt the
need to have someone in place who can act as a subject matter
expert and a sparring partner across all of these – to help us
progress and help our leaders build a more inclusive environment,
both through practices and policies.

SARAH TABET, SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC
Schneider Electric has dedicated global team to focus entirely on
diversity and inclusion, which has also identified local ambassadors
to support and lead on diversity and inclusion initiatives.
On a personal level, in addition to my main role in HR, leading the
diversity and inclusion agenda brought to me a great opportunity to
engage, influence, and strengthen the commitment of our people to
the diversity and inclusion principles that have been reflected in how
we revisit our policies, processes, and day-to-day operations.

32 I FBC Insights

How do you overcome stereotypes?
ANITA VAN GAAL, AIR FRANCE
The age-old stereotype paradox mainly occurs at a subconscious
level. This can be overcome by making a conscious effort and
expanding one’s knowledge and awareness. Education on diverse
ethnicities, traditions, backgrounds and beliefs does promote a
broadened perspective on different cultures. By organising
intercountry events, meetings and trainings, we bring colleagues
together which also facilitates understanding and respect of
different backgrounds and cultures.

DESPO MICHAELIDES, AXA
Our workplace consists of individuals from diverse backgrounds in
terms of their gender, accessibility, race, religion and culture. At AXA,
we ensure that our company culture encapsulates the principles of
acceptance, tolerance and respect, which is reflected from the outset
when people are on-boarded into the company. Our policies are all
built to be both clear and free from any discrimination or bias,
whether conscious or unconscious.
We have invested in programmes that promote diversity and
inclusion, with a focus on the language of inclusion, which fosters a
collaborative atmosphere and a healthy workplace culture. Our
employees engage through several opportunities, including
celebrating their different faiths through festivals, understanding
one another through team building activities, learning through
educational videos on diversity and inclusion, and training on
unconscious bias focused on individual needs. Our employees are
encouraged to voice their opinions without fear of being shut down
or ridiculed. Finally, we foster an environment that is open to
discussion and that celebrates new ways of thinking, overcoming the
status quo.

PETER HAUGAARD, KPMG
Stereotyping often comes from a lack of exposure and knowledge.
Limited exposure basically means that your “sample” is too small. It’s
easy to jump to conclusions or, in the case of people, stereotype. The
key tactic here is to increase exposure – have people team up
extensively and often, with the purpose of creating diverse teams.
Knowledge is of course often linked to lack of exposure, but as we
see in many places you can actually work in a diversified
environment and still know relatively little about your colleagues,
their views, beliefs and what they hold dear.

D&I Panorama: Cross Perspectives

SARAH TABET, SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC
The best way to overcome stereotypes is first by understanding
them. This is done by communication, trainings, and rolling out
company-wide awareness campaigns.
Since 2017, our global leadership have launched virtual training
programmes and interactive platforms to educate employees around
“hidden bias.” By tapping those hidden, automatic stereotypes that
avoid conscious control, we aim to help our staff to recognise biased
attitudes.
On additional fronts, internal and external communications have
played a key role in promoting and accelerating how to overcome
bias. We have revised all communications to ensure that they are
open, genuine, and non-judgmental. For example, we are portraying
women as site engineers and highlighting multicultural literatures.
While there is always room for improvement, we continue to
proactively close any remaining bias gaps.

THIERRY DELAPLACE, THALES
A Corporate campaign has been initiated this year on this topic, and
we have started training sessions on unconscious bias.

How do you measure and communicate
progress?

NATHALIE AMIEL-FERRAULT, FEDEX EXPRESS
In addition to collecting and analysing data on gender and ethnic
diversity, and assessing how individuals use and access the available
learning tools, FedEx engages with external groups such as the
Great Place to Work (GPTW) Institute to ensure that we benchmark
with other companies and across multiple industries. GPTW has
consistently recognized FedEx as one of the best companies to work
for in the UAE, and was also recognized in 2017 as the Most
Woman-Friendly Employer (Multi-National Company), at the 19th
Global Women in Leadership Economic Forum, honours which were
celebrated with all team members.

SARAH TABET, SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC
Schneider Electric measures diversity and inclusion in our employee
survey ‘OneVoice’, with results that are measured, analysed, and
communicated year-on-year across the organisation. This survey is
used to identify both strengths and areas for improvement, and
most importantly, to demonstrate the impact of all initiatives and
programmes conducted.
To ensure that results are translated into actions that benefit both
the company and the employees, we conduct focus groups to hear
and share feedback, perspectives, and stories that set future
priorities.

THIERRY DELAPLACE, THALES
Key performance indicators have been defined at the corporate level,
and suited to our local environment.

RACHEL MOOSA, ACCOR HOTELS
Diversity and inclusion is a key priority for AccorHotels and we have
dedicated internal channels to communicate updates within the
business.

DESPO MICHAELIDES, AXA
The issue of metrics and how to measure diversity and progress can
be quite controversial.
At AXA, we believe that driving transformative culture change is
much more than just a set of numbers. What counts is the increased
commitment our leaders are demonstrating in embracing diversity
in all its many facets, and how they role model these inclusive
behaviours. This is critical to the change we want to see, because the
more inclusive we are as an organisation, the more progress we will
see in our diversity area.
Data is the necessary evil to start the debate; it is the language that
the business understands and it is articulated in our diversity and
inclusion dashboards. We communicate progress through the
diversity and inclusion council, our internal forums, staff roadshows
and through social media.
This, in turn, translates into an inclusive culture free of bias and
discrimination, and is a key lever to attract future employees to our
brand.

FBC Insights I 33

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Local Success Stories

A Cultural Insight
The key to recruiting and retaining a national workforce begins with having a genuine interest to include them in
your company’s long-term strategy; and not just a matter of following mandates and filling quotas. Just as crucial
is an inclusive work environment that invites differing perspectives to the table and an openness to the idea that
diversity is the seed of innovation and creativity. Letting diverse perspectives in and allowing them to disrupt the
status quo is not always easy. But in my experience, it is the sustained and lasting positive affect that diversity
brings to the workplace.
Stereotypes and misconceptions about nationals using private companies as a pit stop to their government job is
just that, a stereotype. Fresh graduates are well educated, ambitious and ready for the challenges of the private
sector, and companies should match that with a strategy that puts their company on the nationalisation radar.

Nasif Kayed
CEO The Arab Culturalist

Essential to implementing an effective diversity and inclusion plan is a supportive corporate structure that realizes
the value of nurturing homegrown talent, and what that might mean to the corporate environment. Companies
who anticipate these challenges with action like enhancing everyone’s intercultural communication skills or
providing diversity and inclusion training are far more successful than those who just focus on training the new
joiners. Those who take the time to understand cultural differences that affect workplace motivation and
satisfaction are far more successful with their D& I plan than those who do not.

The bottom line of D&I
When people talk about diversity and inclusion, they tend to focus on gender parity. However, when embraced
strategically, diversity and inclusion broadens the workforce in every direction. Why? Because economies are surprisingly
similar to sports teams – if you only play half the squad, you only get half the result.

Sophie Leray
CEO NASEBA

While the business magazines opine the power of the millennial workforce, global youth unemployment reached 12.9 per
cent in 2015, with expectations that it will rise to 13.1 per cent in 2018. While the UN reports six million more youths
are currently employed than in 2009, the trend is moving in the wrong direction and, among those who do work, more
than 20 per cent are at risk of poverty.
Around 15 per cent of the global population lives with a disability of some description, and the employment rate among
disabled people ranges from 50 per cent to 90 per cent across various economies. Disability inclusion is not about hitting
quotas: It’s about establishing support for colleagues and employees of all abilities, throughout the employment lifecycle
with mentorship, adapted working conditions or hybrid job roles.
The term ‘womenomics’ needs little introduction, but remains central to diversity and inclusion. Closing the participation
and wage gap between genders would increase women’s income globally by up to 76 per cent, equivalent to $17 trillion.
Further, for every year a woman spends in education, child mortality decreases by 9.5 per cent.
No one statistic or story can capture the breadth of opportunity that is missed when diversity and inclusion is ignored,
but this one comes close: Businesses with diverse employment policies – reaching from entry level to corner office – can
expect an average 33 per cent increase on profitability when ethnicity, race and gender are diversified. It’s food for
thought.

FBC Insights I 35

Local Success Stories

A glance from a prosperous SME: ALEXANDRE J
Diversity and inclusion lies at the heart of the Alexandre.J business: Over the past 18 months, the company grew from
four to 60, and from three nationalities to 19.
Being part of the retail industry, and ain touch with the people of Dubai, we focus our strategy on ensuring that our
ambassadors are a reflection of the country’s reality.

Joanna Toigo
Regional Brand
Manager Alexandre J

Understanding the cultural differences, and adapting our management accordingly, are essential keys for the comfort of
our employees, and by consequence the success of the company.
Our training programme includes a specific chapter on diversity and inclusion, to ensure our employees have the proper
approach with every team member, as well as customers. We educate our staff in the richness of diversity, by teaching
them key phrases, habits and jokes from each country through short videos and roleplays. We try to ensure each
department of the back office, and each location in the front office, combine a minimum of three nationalities, both
genders, new joiners, and experts.
We believe that diversity and inclusion is not only a question of gender, nationality or generation, but also of personality
and hierarchy level. We strongly encourage all our staff to be leading players in the development of the company by
sharing their ideas, and lending their expertise through suggestion boxes and brainstorming, involving senior
management alongside sales ambassadors.
Last, but not least, part of our incentive programme is to offer luxurious experiences, outside of working hours, and
without management present, for staff to build memories together and strengthen their relationships freely.

Local success stories
Being the first female Emirati in the UAE to pursue a filmmaking career and also being an entrepreneur, I’m frequently
asked if it’s been more difficult for me to succeed, not only as an artist with a firm personality, but also as a committed
producer.
Art and Business have nothing to do with gender, and although things are changing lately, we are living in a misogynistic
world and we must deal with it. For instance, I couldn’t study film because of my gender, but I found a way, and I managed
to become who I am today.
However, this is not a local phenomenon, this is global and, overall, it’s important not to deny women an education.
Sometimes, people tend to say “let’s support her because she’s female” and I don’t like that.
It would make more sense to me to be supported because I’m a professional. Now, as a UAE national and a film director,
I’m willing to fight equally for my culture and for women empowerment. I am eager to create content that does not just
stay here.
We are looking at the globe, and now, with technology, the world has become a very small place. So, instead of just
narrating my stories to Arabs and my own people, it’s very important to bring those stories to the rest of the world, as
opposed to always bringing content from outside.
I’m currently working on my first feature-film and I hope it will export abroad the Emirati culture and represent our Nation
worldwide.

36 I FBC Insights

Nayla Al Khaja
Film Maker-Entrepreneur

Local Success Stories

Insight from KPMG Lower Gulf
The United Nations has 193 member countries, and I believe the UAE has residents hailing from most, if not all of them.
The incredible cultural diversity is one of the first things you notice when you arrive.
It is tempting to call the UAE the new global melting pot, but I think that would be oversimplifying matters.
The UAE’s cultural diversity is based on deeply rooted principles peaceful co-existence and tolerance. However, an
important aspect is the right to remain different, as long as you abide by the federal laws laid out. So, if it’s a dish, it’s one
where each ingredient is largely permitted to stay ‘true’ to its origin. You can see this all over the UAE – the communities,
the schools, the festivals, the clothing, the food.
From a business perspective, diversity plays a different role at KPMG Lower Gulf. I work with colleagues from 73 different
nationalities, many of whom have come to the UAE as adults. Adults bring experience, but also some heavy cultural
baggage.

Peter Haugaard
Head of People,
Performance & Culture
KPMG Lower Gulf

We aren’t as easily molded as children, regardless how positive our mind-set is. Our task is to come together as one under
the KPMG umbrella – to build teams that bridge all kinds of differences to serve our clients.
At KPMG in the UAE, we don’t have an Arab, or a British, or an American, Indian, Chinese, French or German way of
leading – we are in the process of defining a new global leadership model based on the principles of the UAE: respect and
tolerance.

7 Emirates race for happiness
As a global group with people from over 100 nationalities, we understand the
importance of our national workforce. Our dedicated ‘Gulfanisation’ team creates
specific programmes to attract, develop and retain the best regional young talents.
In November 2017, Chalhoub Group, in partnership with the Ministry of Human
Resources and Emiratization, shared an innovative and inspiring campaign with the
UAE community, intended to attract young UAE nationals while bringing internal
teams together through wellness and fun.
Enthusiastic volunteers from different business entities and locations ran and cycled
for seven days across seven emirates, covering a total distance of 285km. Starting in
Fujairah and finishing in Abu Dhabi, they simultaneously delivered seven educational
retail awareness workshops for 131 UAE nationals upon arrival at each emirate.
The key goal of the campaign was to attract and inspire young Emiratis, and support them in getting the right skills to ensure future professional and
personal success.
These unique workshops covered an introduction to the modern concepts of retail, guest experience best practices, as well as identifying some
essential skills required to succeed in the current dynamic workplace. Future Emirati leaders had a unique opportunity to receive key tips from the
talent acquisition team on how to prepare for interviews and assessments. At the end of each workshop, all participants were rewarded with a
Chalhoub Retail Academy certificate and a memorable gift.
We believe that having a more diverse and inclusive business is essential. We make sure that all our team members are happy, and have continuous
access to education through training and coaching.
This campaign supports the group’s commitment to the UNGC 17 sustainable development goals, and shows its support to nationalisation.
“The ‘race for happiness’ campaign aims to share the Chalhoub Group vision of happiness, and to promote careers in the private sector amongst young
UAE nationals. We believe that education and sport are key components to achieve a better work-life balance and the group was thrilled to launch this
initiative with the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratization,” said Patrick Chalhoub, Chalhoub Group’s joint chief executive.

How french higher education institutions prepare the diversity of talents
Sciences Po places diversity at the core of its academic project.
Its foundation was the result of a pedagogical innovation, in which
civic engagement was a pillar. Present in the content of its courses, in
the composition of its faculty, it is also present in its structure.
With the objective of developing a vibrant and varied student body,
the institution reformed its admission process so as to open up to
international students, coming from different cultural and
educational backgrounds.
Today, more than 140 nationalities are represented at the institution,
enriching debate and exchanges. Moreover, through a close-knit
partnership system, the admission reform offered the opportunity
for French students coming from underprivileged areas to intensively
prepare for the admission exam during their last years of school.
The institution backed up its diversity policy with a strong
scholarship scheme. Around 37 per cent of Sciences Po students are
helped financially during their studies.

Sciences Po Paris, a world-class university in the social sciences.
Sciences Po is an international research university, both selective and open
onto the world, ranking among the finest institutions in the fields of
humanities and social sciences.
A student body unique in terms of excellence and multiculturalism Sciences
Po recruits its students from among the finest candidates in France and
abroad.
Each year, Sciences Po welcomes 13,000 students, with 47 % of its student
body made up of international students representing 150 nationalities.
The multiculturalism and academic excellence of our student community
contribute greatly to enhancing Sciences Po's attractiveness on the world
stage.
sciencespo.fr

38 I FBC Insights

The notion of inclusiveness is not only a result of Sciences Poâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s view
on education, but it is also at the origin of its strategy. It finds a
striking echo in active teaching methods that encourage
project-based pedagogy, promote team work and foster collective
intelligence. Students are guided in order to learn how to adapt to
different environments, to organise their teams based on the strong
points of each individual, to understand that diversity enriches
analysis and views, and supports the originality of thoughts and
solutions.
Soft skills such as empathy and tolerance are developed together
with hard skills, and are underlined as fundamental elements in the
education of future decision makers. Furthermore, all undergraduate
students follow the Civic Learning Programme, consisting in leading
and implementing a personal project with an impact on society.
Sciences Po also offers workshops for young women so as to support
their empowerment and their impact in a group.
Diversity is not considered as a mere statistic in Sciences Po. It is the
end of an educative line that has driven the institution since its
creation. Inclusivity enriches perspectives, enlightens decisions, and
drives the citizens of tomorrow towards the possibility of making a
difference for the common good.

Integration of the difference: a life Trade Mark
As an NLP certified coach, Marie-Hélène Straus always invests in human sustainable
development, and recently wrote a book emphasising the nine managerial principles
aligned with their living principles (edition: “Les Liens qui liberent,” Paris).
Heavily engaged in humanitarian work, she is a member of several associations and
president of “Tchendukua – Ici et Ailleurs,” an NGO fighting to give back land to
endangered groups, and protecting biodiversity.
Scientists are not yet clear about what living really means, but they all agree on what
life encompasses: Energy, communication and memory.
The one thing that is now crystal clear for all is: The creation of life on earth is a result
of two cells that have decided to cooperate together, by agreeing to include each other
in a common project, to generate something bigger than themselves.
The scientific name of this proven cooperation is endosymbiosis. Two cells that have
decided to mix their differences to create something new.

Tchendukua.com

From a physics point of view, this has been obvious since the famous apple of Sir Isaac Newton.
Life is movement. Death is when movement stops. But the question is, how are movements
created?
The creation of movement is due to the encounter of two different elements. For example, when
a body, element, or organism is touched by something similar which disturbs, questions, or shakes
its beliefs or its perceptions.
We need to learn this lesson: Including what is different is a given, for those who understand what
being alive means. We must also learn that inclusion is the base that creates the energy of life, and
accepting differences is the basis of creating movement.
Tchendukua communities, Sierra Nevada Santa Marta,
Columbia

Is it not what any company needs to develop their business, to find new ideas, and to face market
evolutions?

Undoubtedly, when we start thinking about the rules of life, inclusion is not a new trend to deploy, a new rule to implement, a new mindset to
adopt. Inclusion is simply the key to staying alive for anyone: Any organism, any human being, or any company.
Bibliography
McKinsey, Delivering through diversity | January 2018
McKinsey, Why diversity matters | January 2015
The Boston Consulting Group, How organizations in the Middle East
can stretch their diversity spend | September 2017

FIRST EMIRATI-FRENCH BUSINESS
ENGAGEMENT SUMMIT
The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) of the Government of Dubai and the French Business Council Dubai & Northern Emirates (FBC) have
organized last September the first "Emirati - French business engagement summit" for Investment, Public Private Partnerships, Mobility and
Innovation.
The one day summit included a plenary session followed by five parallel workshops focusing on Investment, Collaboration and PPPs under the
following urban mobility topics:

200 C-suite level, Directors and Senior Managers from the Emirati and the French public and private sectors have attended the Summit.
Multi-National Companies (MNC), SMEs, start-ups and financial institutions operating within the urban mobility industry as well as both
Governments Representatives also attended the event.
HE Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), has opened
the Emirati-France Business Summit held by the RTA in collaboration with the French Business Council. The event, which has attracted the
participation of 63 Emirati and French entities, aimed to boost the PPP, nurture an investment climate conducive to the development of commercial
cooperation between the RTA and the French business community in the UAE, and strengthen the bilateral business relationships.
HE Ludovic Pouille - French Ambassador to the UAE commended the superb relationships and the existing cooperation between the UAE and France
in various fields. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Emirati-France Business Engagement Summit contributes to enhancing the communication and exchange of practices in
current and future projects. Dubai remains a privileged destination for our companies wishing to reach a wide range of international markets, due to
a common vision and openness to sustainable development, innovation and creative finance schemes,â&#x20AC;? sic.

FIRST UAE - FRANCE ECONOMIC FORUM
The first UAE-FRANCE Economic Forum has been held on Thursday, 9th November 2017, in Zayed University in Dubai. This event has been
organised by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry in collaboration with the French Business Council Dubai and the French Embassy in Abu
Dhabi. Around 400 representatives of French and Emirati companies participated to the forum.
This high-level Forum aimed to bolster bilateral economic relationship between
France and the UAE. The event was structured with 3 different panels focused on
the main pillars of the Dubai Expo 2020: "Opportunity", "Mobility" and
"Sustainability".
High-level industry experts, including Fetchr, DP WORLD, RTA, JC Decaux, RATP
DEV, DEWA, Masdar, EDF and Engie Group, shared knowledge and insights, and
discussed prospects for future cooperation in these areas between UAE and
France.
During the event, H.E. Hamad Buamim, President & CEO of Dubai Chamber of
Commerce and Industry, H.E. Benjamin Griveaux, State Secretary to the Ministry of
Economy and Finance, H.E. Majid Saif Al Ghurair, Chaiman, Dubai Chamber of
Commerce & Industry, H.E. Reem Ebrahim Al Hashimy, Minister of State for
International Cooperation and Director General of Expo 2020 and H.E. Emmanuel
Macron, President of France have underlined the importance and potential UAE
and France have to work together.
During the day, several strategic partnerships have been signed.

The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry has also signed a MOU with the French Chamber of Commerce Paris Ile-de-France with the
support of the French Business Council Dubai aiming to enhance cooperation between the two organizations especially in the fields of
entrepreneurship, innovation and economic exchange.
H.E. Emmanuel Macron, President of France, closed this first UAE-France Economic Forum by reaffirming France commitment to strengthen
the cooperation with the UAE, highlighting the importance of creating connections and bridges between our two countries.

FBC Insights I 43

Looking Back / Looking Forward

2017 / 2018 HIGHLIGHTS

COUNTRY MISSION- KENYA

2017 WORKING TOGETHER FORUM

Following the request of its members, the French Business
Council has led in Feb. 2018, in partnership with Dubai
Chamber, a new business delegation in Kenya this time. The
objective of such mission is to give an overview of the local
business environment through meeting with the local French
authorities and public institutions, site visits and networking
dinners, thanks to the support of our local partners. The
participants had also an insight of their potential and
opportunities via customized and individual B2B meeting.

In September 2017 the French Business Council organized
the 2nd Edition of the “Forum Working Together by FBC”. Its
goals were to reinforce business links between FBC Small &
Medium-sized Enterprises and FBC large groups established
in Dubai.
This session brought together 21 MNCs companies
(AccorHotels, Air Liquide, AXA, Babilou, Chalhoub, Emirates
Airline, FedEx, JCDecaux, Renault, Sodexo, Total, Vallourec),
38 SMEs entities and some French and Local Authorities for
a total of 280 hosted B2B meetings followed by a
networking luncheon.

2018 LOOKING FORWARD
Each business trip is tailored-made around specific business opportunities,
relevant to our members. Delegates will be invited to join the Trade Mission based
on their strategic growth objectives and nature of business.
The programme is designed to match these objectives with business opportunities
existing in the targeted market via the introduction to key industry
decision-makers and well-placed government officials.

COUNTRY CONFERENCE - PAKISTAN

In March 2018, the French Business Council Dubai and
Northern Emirates organized a conference about Pakistan
with the exceptional presence of HE Marc Barety, French
Ambassador in Pakistan, to present the recent political
situation of the country and the bilateral relations between
France and Pakistan. M. Philippe Fouet, the Head of the
economic department of the French Embassy in Pakistan,
described the current economic situation of Pakistan and
the business opportunities the country is offering.

After having organized successful trade missions (Iraqi Kurdistan, Iran, Kenya…),
the French Business Council will bolster this program, with Kenya or Pakistan as
next up-coming destination.

The French Business Council Dubai and Northern Emirates will organize in Dubai a
conference to discuss the recent evolution of the country and upcoming projects and
business opportunities, with the exceptional presence of HE Francois Gouyette, French
Ambassador to KSA.

2ND EDITION OF BUSINESS ENGAGEMENT SUMMIT WITH RTA
The French Business Council in collaboration with the Roads and Transport Authority
(RTA), hosted the “First Emirati-French business Engagement Summit” on September 25,
2017 as part of efforts to create an environment conducive to growth of trade and
investment between the two sides. More than 200 CEOs and C Level participants from the
public and private sectors in Dubai and France attended the summit.
A second edition will take place end of 2018 to go deeper into the topic and continue
to create business opportunities in the field of transportation infrastructure.
For more information about our upcoming events: fbc@fbcdubai.com

44 I FBC Insights

3RD EDITION OF THE WORKING TOGETHER
Start-ups & SMEs: reinforce your business, meet major
corporations!
“Working together Forum” is one of the FBC’s signature
events, that aims to strengthen business links between
SMEs and major corporations.
The objective of this half-day event will be to enable
companies to find and connect with targeted business
partners and boost their networking opportunities
through a series of 20-minute B2B meetings followed by
a networking luncheon.

THE TURNKEY SOLUTION
FOR FRENCH SMEs AND START-UPs in
DUBAI SILICON OASIS.
A privileged access to the French Business Council Dubai
& Northern Emirates community, services and events.
30 years of experience in a regional hub, to facilitate the
development of your company in the U.A.E. and the
Middle-East.
A collaborative, professional and dynamic environment to
launch your business.
www.fbcdubai.com
Tel: +971 (0)4 312 6700 - milena.chemin@fbcdubai.com

*Non-contractual photo

C

Business Services

FBC BUSINESS SERVICES
Our business consulting department offers a wide range of services to support the different stages of company development in the
United Arab Emirates.

From market information to company set-up, benefit from bespoke business services !
"JOURNEES PAYS" IN FRANCE
In order to promote business and investment opportunities in the UAE, the FBC team
regularly meets with SMEs in France during series of B2B meetings and workshops organized
by the framework of Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
UAE MARKET WORKSHOPS
The business support team offers workshops on specific sectors or webinars in the following
areas : Healthcare, Construction, Retail, F&B, Sustainable Development, and New
Technologies.
ASSESSING THE POTENTIAL OF A PROJECT
The potential of a project and/or a product is tested on a sample of prospects, and local
competition is analyzed.
BUSINESS-PROSPECTING MISSIONS
This service delivers market studies and business-matching meetings with potential partners.
After validation of the business potential, a customized 3-to-4-day program of business
meetings is organized.
COMMERCIAL FOLLOW-UP
The business support team offers assistance to companies without a UAE branch in pursuing
their commercial development in the United Arab Emirates. This is achieved by actively
maintaining a close relationship with the identified prospects and partners for up to 6 months.
COMPANY SET-UP / START-UP CONSULTANCY
Based on a company's specifications, the FBC organizes a meeting to answer potential
questions and connects the companies with FBC members able to provide legal and logistical
support during start-up process.
BUSINESS CENTERS
The business center in Oud Metha is a business incubator with 14 offices available for rent
and a coaching service for "Volontariat International en Entreprise" (VIE) employees,
providing customized support during the first few months of their employment.
NEW! The FBC is delighted to announce its new Dubai Business Centre: Hello France
Business Center by FBC !
Our tailor-made turnkey solution to set-up your business in the UAE, is welcoming you in
Dubai Silicon Oasis. Hello France is offering flexible and adapted solutions to French
companies seeking to establish and develop their business in the Middle East. Dubai Silicon
Oasis is a fast growing Dubai Free Zone considered to be one of the most efficient in terms of
infrastructure and services.
RECRUITMENT SERVICE
Since 2005, the FBC recruitment service has been providing HR services to companies
including recruitment, consulting, career workshop and more.
FOREIGN COUNTRY MISSIONS
The business support team provides market discovery and trade missions for companies
interested in finding out more about new countries and developing their business there. We
have already delivered several missions in Iraq, Kurdistan and Iran.
FRENCH BUSINESS COUNCIL NETWORK
Meet your peers, and develop your business.

FBC Insights I 47

Member Services

BECOME A MEMBER!
The FBC Dubai & Northern Emirates has grown significantly over the past years to reach a total of 800 members representing 400+ French and
local companies.
The FBC is the largest French Chamber of Commerce in the middle east and ranking #10 worldwide.

SECTORIAL COMMITTEES

The French Business Council has developed several committees whose objectives are to be an information source to share best
practices and a networking platform for professionals. From very specific subjects to large audience topics, the committees deliver
key information on doing business in Dubai and in the Middle East.

CLUBS
L.E. Club Working Group The â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Leadership
Entrepreneurship Clubâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; brings together CEOs and
General Managers of around 25 of the largest French
groups in the Emirates. The group meets on a
monthly basis to identify synergies within the
regional markets, and to develop a joint approach to
address the largest local or regional projects.

CSO CLUB Every month, the CSO Club meets to
analyze and discuss threats and to consider the risks
that could affect the companies located in the GCC
countries but also in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

SYNERGY by FBC gathers small and medium
enterprises' representatives and entrepreneurs
operating in Dubai and Northern Emirates in all
business sectors.

WORKING GROUPS
The CFO's Working Group provides Chief Financial
Officers with an opportunity to exchange freely on
common topics and get access to current information
that is most relevant to their daily functions.

The HR Working Group aims to gather HR
employees to go through HR related topics, and get
access to relevant and useful information. The
objective is to share on HR perspectives and
best-practices, but also have feedbacks from other
HR Directors. The HR Working Group also organizes
HR Breakfast Talks

48 I FBC Insights

The French Business Council supports the first
Middle East Diversity & Inclusiveness Think Tank.
This platform brings together the HR community,
D&I experts and CSR specialists from more than 25
multinationals and 4 industries, who are passionate
about D&I. The Think Tank gives these professionals
an opportunity to brainstorm ideas and learn from
each other's experience. It also aims to conduct
independent research which will provide innovative,
practical recommendations to advance the regional
D&I journey.
The MarCom Working Group provides Marketing and
Communication Managers with an opportunity to
exchange freely on common topics and get access to
current information relevant to their daily functions.

Member Services

YOUR BENEFITS
GROW YOUR NETWORK AND SHARE YOUR EXPERTISE
The Chamber organizes 100+ events per year, the best way for our 780 members to learn, to stay up to date and to develop their network. Events can
be organized with other Business Councils as well as with industry peers and are varied: conferences, networking events, 7 sectorial committees, 4
working groups, 3 clubs, awards, forum, gala...

DEVELOP BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
The Chamber offers a wide range of services including market studies, business center facilities, recruitment expert services and much more. Members
can also take advantage of first class offers in the UAE and abroad for their companies and employees...

BENEFIT FROM OUR MEMBER-EXCLUSIVE OFFERS AND PREFERENTIAL RATES ON FBC SERVICES
For you and the entire staff of your company, benefit from our privilege members offers and programs. In addition, enjoy preferential rates on our FBC
consultancy services (recruitment, business services, and events).

FBC Insights I 49

Advertisement

You manage French employees and look after their social
protection. How do you ensure that French expatriate employees
enjoy the same social security benefits as those living in France?

La Caisse des Français de l'Etranger (CFE): An extension of French social security abroad
La Caisse des Français de l'Etranger (CFE) is a social security fund, created specially for French expatriates. Voluntary
membership of CFE allows French citizens living abroad to benefit from the same social protection abroad as they would
in France.
Participating in CFE ensures continuity with the French social security system, both at the start, and the end, of a French
national’s time abroad.
It also allows for the payment of health costs during temporary stays in France. CFE offers the same level of social security
as in France, regardless of the individual’s situation during their expatriation, and regardless of the country of residence. It
is, without exclusion, related to the nature of the situation, such as a natural disaster, the outbreak of war, or an attack. As
of 2018, nearly 200,000 people are covered by CFE worldwide.
A high speed modernization
In order to better meet the needs of its customers, CFE has undertaken numerous projects to simplify its procedures, make
more competitive offers adapted to today’s expatriates, and improve its customer service.
The retroactive payment of contributions in the absence of continuity with a French health insurance scheme has been
totally cancelled, in order to limit any additional costs.
This also helps to facilitate the integration of expatriate employees whose membership to CFE is established more than
three months after their departure from France.
At the beginning of 2018, a reduction in rates was made for certain categories of companies, based on the guarantees they
subscribed to for their employees.
A development over time
A new offer launched in January 2018, named FrancExpat Santé, addressed those French citizens who have a system of
mandatory health coverage in their country of residence.
The programme covers care costs in France, according to the reimbursement rates of French Social Security. This new offer
allows French people abroad to consult their doctor during their stay in France, and to plan for a hospitalisation or
childbirth.
Finally, there are other innovative projects planned for the coming months, such as an initiative permitting members of CFE
to keep their Carte Vitale, the name of France’s national healthcare insurance card, thus allowing them to benefit from
third-party payment for their care in France.